Real Life Christmas Grinchesby Michele Cheplic | More from this Blogger 09 Dec 2006 09:45 AM It seems as though every time I turn on the television I see yet another news report about some wacko dismantling, destroying, or stealing homeowners' outdoor Christmas decorations. Just this week alone, seven homeowner's in our city reported incidents of vandalism and theft involving outdoor nativity sets and inflatable holiday lawn decorations. It got me wondering whether this was an isolated event (as in just in the Midwest) or whether real-life Grinches are stealing Christmas decorations across the country? I discovered that while it is not a national epidemic, there have been numerous reports of holiday vandals wreaking havoc on lawns nationwide. For example, in Northwest Florida, a Grinch (or Grinches) not only pulled out the power cord to one homeowner's singing Santa, he or she also repeatedly ran over his head. According to police reports, the homeowner said she put her large singing Santa on display in her driveway, the same way she does every year, but when she awoke on Wednesday she found someone had run him over several times. "They had to come all the way in and just run him over, back and forth," the female homeowner told a local newspaper reporter. Santa "was a neat old guy," she said. He also waved and shouted "Merry Christmas." Now he is flat as a pancake-Merry Christmas! If you think that's bad consider this incident involving an outdoor nativity scene, also in Florida. According to local newspapers, baby Jesus was literally cut out of a local church's wooden Nativity display. "I hear all the time that Jesus has been taken out of everything and now he's been taken out of his manger," a church elder told news reporters. According to police, the holiday pranksters who perpetrate these types of offenses rarely get caught. Officers say it's a good idea to start a neighborhood watch program so you have others looking out for your property and can notify police of any suspicious activity. In the meantime, a Florida churchgoer had this to say about the nativity vandalism: "People should be taught not to steal (anything), but don't take the baby Jesus for crying out loud." Have your holiday lawn decorations ever been stolen or vandalized? Related Articles: Holiday Decorating Tips: Your Home and Yard Holiday Decorating-Keep It Simple It's Beginning To SMELL A Lot Like Christmas Natural Christmas Décor Part 2 Creating A White Christmas--Indoors Outdoor Décor: Decorate Your Yard for Christmas Learn more about Michele Cheplic  Michele Cheplic was born and raised in Hilo, Hawaii, but now lives in Wisconsin. Michele graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a degree in Journalism. Relevantpopular culture tags User Comments  Libby Pelham (12866) 09 Dec 2006 10:29 AMAll I can say is some people are crazy and just destructive :-(  Eliza Ferree (725) 09 Dec 2006 11:27 AMYes people do. Oh another missing Jesus is in W.Virginia, they aren't allowed to have him in the nativity scene either.  Michele Cheplic (37236) 10 Dec 2006 07:45 PMI just heard that a homeowner in New Jersey told police that someone stole baby Jesus from his nativity set and replaced it with an empty beer can. Sad! Community Tags Christmas decorations, grinches, holiday vandals, nativity set, outdoor decor Discuss this article
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